Pre-professional health programs do not ensure that all prerequisites for admission to health professions schools are met. Students should inquire with schools of interest, including JMU, to confirm details of admission requirements.
Declaring Pre-Physical Therapy
Incoming freshmen and transfer students can declare pre-PT without verification from PPH Advising. Neither group will be subject to monitoring until they have completed 10 hours of the defined prerequisite courses. AP, dual enrollment and transfer credit hours are not included in the progression standards.
Current JMU students can request declaration of pre-PT but will need approval for the request to be granted. If the student has completed fewer than 10 hours of the prerequisite credits the request will be granted after verification of course work. If the student has completed 10 hours or more of the prerequisite credits, the request will be granted only if the cumulative GPA is 3.0 or greater and the prerequisite GPA is 2.7 or greater.
Access to Pre-Physical Therapy Advising
Students who progress successfully will have access to advising as they move through their program. Entry level advising is targeted for students who have not yet completed 10 hours of the prerequisite list (indicated below) and will be done mainly in group settings or via group electronic communication. Once students have completed 10 hours of the prerequisite list, they become subject to twice yearly review of their academic progress. Performance queries will be conducted after summer and fall semester grades are posted. If the review indicates successful progress, they will be invited to benchmark advising activities. These events target students who are progressing but are not yet at the point of preparing an application. Topics include learning about different PT programs, deciding where to apply and discussing fulfillment of non-academic requirements/recommendations (shadowing, volunteering). Assuming continued progress, students will reach the applicant stage (typically spring of the junior year), during which they will be invited to participate in an application workshop.
Pre-PT students who fall below the standard of a 3.0 cumulative GPA and a 2.7 prerequisite GPA are at high risk of not being admitted to a PT program. Targeted advising for these students focuses on improving/developing academic skills as well as career exploration. Once they have participated in such advising, it will be incumbent upon them to improve their performance such that they attain and maintain the GPA standard. If students fall below the standard in a subsequent performance review, their pre-PT designation will be administratively dropped. This action will not impede a student from applying to PT programs, nor will it have any impact on a student’s degree program as the pre-PT designation is not a major.
Students who wish to re-enter the pre-PT program can do so as long as they meet the GPA standard (3.0 or greater cumulative GPA and 2.7 or greater prerequisite GPA). This applies to students who may have voluntarily dropped the pre-PT designation as well as to those who were administratively dropped.
